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Thai court forces prime minister to step down

Ruling leaves the country in political limbo and primed for more violence. It casts doubt on whether elections planned for July will be held.

Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra appeared live on national television two hours after the verdict to thank her supporters, emphasize that she was an elected leader and assert her innocence. (PORNCHAI KITTIWONGSAKUL / AFP/GETTY IMAGES)

Supporters of Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra gesture as they gather at the office of the permanent secretary for defence in a suburb of Bangkok on May 7. (PORNCHAI KITTIWONGSAKUL / AFP/GETTY IMAGES)

Opponents of Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra hold bank notes that they will donate during a protest march in Bangkok on May 7. (NICOLAS ASFOURI / AFP/GETTY IMAGES)

By Thanyarat DoksoneThe Associated Press

Wed., May 7, 2014

BANGKOK—Thailand’s prime minister was ordered by a court to step down Wednesday in a ruling that handed a victory to anti-government protesters who have staged six months of street protests — but does little to resolve the country’s political crisis.

The constitutional Court found Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra guilty of abusing her power by transferring a senior civil servant in 2011 to another position. It ruled that the transfer was carried out to benefit her politically powerful family and, therefore, violated the constitution — an accusation she has denied.

The ruling also forced out nine Cabinet members but left nearly two dozen others in their posts, including Deputy Prime Minister Niwattumrong Boonsongpaisan, who was quickly appointed the new acting leader.

Looking relaxed, Yingluck appeared live on national television two hours after the verdict to thank her supporters, emphasize that she was an elected leader and assert her innocence.

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“We held true to the principles of honesty in running the country, and never acted corruptly, as we were accused,” said Yingluck, 46, who swept to power nearly three years ago as the country’s first female prime minister.

At issue was the transfer of a National Security Council chief who was replaced by the police chief, who in turn was replaced by a Thaksin relative.

“Transferring government officials must be done in accordance with moral principle,” the court said in its ruling, read aloud on live television for almost 90 minutes. “Transferring with a hidden agenda is not acceptable.”

Supporters of Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra gesture as they gather at the office of the permanent secretary for defence in a suburb of Bangkok on May 7. (PORNCHAI KITTIWONGSAKUL/AFP/GETTY IMAGES)

The judgment is the latest development in Thailand’s long-running political crisis. It was a victory for Yingluck’s opponents, mostly from the urban elite and those in the south, who have been engaged in vociferous and sometimes violent street protests in Bangkok demanding she step down to make way for an interim unelected leader.

However, the ruling leaves the country in political limbo and primed for more violence. Since November, more than 20 people have been killed and hundreds injured in sporadic gunbattles, drive-by shootings and grenade attacks.

The court’s decision casts doubt on whether new elections planned for July will be delayed, which would anger Yingluck’s mostly rural supporters who have called for a major rally Saturday in Bangkok.

“Today’s verdict is just a bump on the road of democracy, but we will still keep moving on,” said Jatuporn Prompan, leader of the pro-Yingluck Red Shirt protest movement. “Our stance has been clear ... if an illegal prime minister steps in, we will fight. If there’s a coup, we will fight.”

Opponents of Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra hold bank notes that they will donate during a protest march in Bangkok on May (NICOLAS ASFOURI/AFP/GETTY IMAGES)

Yingluck is despised by Bangkok’s middle and upper class as a puppet of her brother, Thaksin Shinawatra, a former prime minister and highly polarizing figure.

Thailand’s political upheaval began in 2006 when Thaksin was ousted in a military coup after protests accusing him of corruption, abuse of power and disrespect for King Bhumibol Adulyadej.

Thaksin’s supporters say the Thai establishment opposes him because their position of privilege has been threatened by his electoral popularity, cemented by populist programs that benefited the less well-off in the countryside.

Thailand’s courts, like its military, are seen as bastions of anti-Thaksin conservatism, and have a record of hostile rulings toward the Shinawatra political machine, which is fuelled by a fortune Thaksin made in the telecommunications sector. Thaksin’s opponents, including those who have rioted and attacked police, destroyed public property and occupied government offices, have usually been treated leniently by the courts.

Analysts called Wednesday’s decision a damaging one for Thailand’s judicial system.

“The credibility of the justice system has vaporized,” said Thongchai Winichakul, a professor of Southeast Asian history at the University of Wisconsin. “The royalist conservatives may celebrate this judicial coup. But the world will mourn over the death of another democracy.”

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